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The Louisville Medicaid region will now be home to four different managed care operators. State officials announced the change today.

Joining Passport Health Plan is Humana, CoventryCares and WellCare.

WellCare and Coventry already have statewide contracts for Medicaid and Passport has operated in Louisville for years.

Passport officials say they will still try to continue maintain their high level of care, despite no longer holding an exclusive contract for the region.

But the new dynamic has consumer advocates like Kentucky Voices for Health’s Jodi Mitchell saying patients are likely to see their quality of care decline.

“That’s really where it comes down to not consumer choice, but who the provider contracts with, because we have seen across the state where there are hospitals who chose to not do business with some of the managed care companies,” she says.

She points to Coventry as one example. The company has broken contracts with many hospitals statewide. And that could affect its provider contracts in Louisville as well.

The new organizations will officially start insuring Medicaid patients on Jan. 1